A Drowning Tragedy Compounded

Did emergency personnel do enough to recover the body of 14-year-old Lydia Benitez, who drowned in the Farmington River Saturday?

The Hartford girl's family and friends don't think so. That should give everyone pause. It's not good when a group of people believe that society's institutions don't work for them.

Grief-stricken survivors believe that police divers gave up too quickly in searching just below an old dam in the Tariffville Gorge where Lydia was last seen. Their belief that authorities were wrong to suspend the search in that part of the river was strengthened when friends later saw her body floating at the surface near the dam and pulled it to shore.

Family and friends of Lydia also accuse authorities of not being attentive enough after the body was recovered Monday evening. They initially believed that po lice had called for an ambulance. But when no ambulance arrived after 15 or 20 minutes, family members refused to wait any longer, loaded Lydia's body into a van and took it to Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford. Those close to the girl believe, further, that Hartford police overreacted at the hospital, provoking a melee that resulted in nine arrests.

Many among Lydia's family and friends believe that the authorities gave them short shrift because they are Puerto Rican. Lydia's anguished mother, Nereida DiPini, said she was ``not satisfied with what they [police and divers] did. We did everything.''

Thus the grief flowing from a tragic drowning has been compounded by feelings that discrimination and racism were at work.

It's important to ascertain all the facts. Stories about the drowning conflict. Divers say they searched the river near the dam ``over and over,'' until they believed that the body had been washed downstream by strong currents. They maintain that standard procedures were followed. Officers at the search scene near Route 189 in Bloomfield Monday evening had to contend with an unruly crowd. So did Hartford officers at Saint Francis. The grief of Lydia's family and friends too readily became anger, resulting in vandalism, a near riot and several injuries. The anger, although resulting from understandable grief, was directed at emergency personnel who did not deserve it.

Still, the perception of a double standard is real. A review of the responses of the state police and the Bloomfield and Hartford police departments -- perhaps by an outside party appointed by the governor -- is in order to make sure that the drowning was handled as it should have been. Police officials should talk to the family and other interested parties after emotions have cooled. Cultural insensitivity also seemed to have contributed to misunderstanding, and that surely could have been avoided. The importance of having Spanish-speaking officers and officers trained in crisis intervention available at search scenes is obvious.

On June 15, a 19-year-old Hartford man drowned in the same stretch of the Farmington River. The two incidents emphasize the need for warnings and safety precautions in this area.

Those familiar with the narrow stretch by the old dam at the end of Tariffville Gorge say it is one of the river's most dangerous spots. The currents tend to pull swimmers underwater and into rocks.

Barring access to the river would be difficult and not desirable. Skilled boaters, people fishing from shore and picnickers should be able to use this beautiful natural resource. But state officials should post the area for no swimming.